Lighting device LED module with effects for color temperature tuning and color tuning

ABSTRACT

A lighting device includes one or more LED modules, each of which includes a group of LED sets positioned on a substrate. Each LED set includes two or more sections, optionally under a single lens. Each section is configured to emit light of different luminescent properties, such as different colors or different color temperatures. The color, color temperature or other characteristics of light emitted by the device is controlled by selectively activating the sections of each LED set.

RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This patent document claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/371,394, filed Aug. 5, 2016, the disclosure of whichis fully incorporated into this document by reference.

BACKGROUND

The advent of light emitting diode (LED) based luminaires has providedsports arenas, stadiums, other entertainment facilities and othercommercial and industrial facilities the ability to achieve instanton-off capabilities, intelligent controls and adjustability whiledelivering excellent light quality, consistent light output and improvedenergy efficiency. Because of this, users continue to seek improvementsin LED lighting devices. For example, new and improved ways to directlight in multiple directions, and maintenance of certain characteristicsof light such as intensity or color temperature, are desired. However,accurate control has been limited because of the manual operationrequired to change colors, intensities, and positions associated withoverhead light fixtures.

White light sources that use LEDs in their construction can have twobasic configurations. In one, referred to as direct emission LEDs, whitelight is generated by direct emission of different colored LEDs.Examples include a combination of a red LED, a green LED, and a blue LEDin a surface mounted device (SMD) LED. The other basic configurationincludes a phosphor-based single LED that generates a beam in a narrowrange of wavelengths, which impinges upon and excites a phosphormaterial to produce visible light. Typically, the LED die or chipgenerates blue light in the visible part of the spectrum and thephosphor re-emits yellow or a combination of green and red light, greenand yellow or yellow and red light. The portion of the visible bluelight generated by the LED which is not absorbed by the phosphor mixeswith the yellow light emitted to provide light which is perceived by thehuman eye as being white in color. The color temperature of an LED isdetermined by the phosphor composition incorporated in the LED.Advantages of phosphor based LEDs over direct emission white LEDsinclude better color stability as a function of device aging andtemperature, and better batch-to-batch and device-to-device coloruniformity/repeatability.

Color tuning of LEDs, especially direct emission white LEDs, can bedifficult to implement. Chip-on-board (COB) LEDs include multiple die(typically 9 or more) that are wired to operate as one electrical deviceand assembled with a single optical emitting surface, and hence requiremultiple channels to adjust individual levels of light output to createcolor changing effects.

Beam control in COB LEDs is also difficult. Typically, an LED lightingdevice is designed to provide a fixed beam pattern and spread usingdiffusers, total internal reflection (TIR) optics and/or collimators. Ifa particular light fixture is designed to provide a “wide” beam, thefixture generally cannot be adjusted easily to produce a “narrow” beam.Typically, changing the beam pattern requires changing the lightingdevice itself, providing a lighting device with motor-controlledmovement, or manually adjusting one or more structural features of thelighting device's housing.

When there are multiple COB LEDs under a single optical source (lens),the high number of LEDs and complexity of optical and electricalcomponents makes color tuning and beam control even more difficult

This document describes new lighting devices that are directed tosolving the issues described above, and/or other problems.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, a lighting device includes a substrate on whicha plurality of light emitting diode (LED) devices are installed. EachLED device includes a set of LEDs over which an optical lens ispositioned. Each LED set is divided into multiple sections that areoptionally separated by a non-conductive divider material. The colortemperature or color of light emitted by the device may be controlled byselectively activating the LEDs under each section. The beam shape oflight emitted may be controlled by selectively activating the LEDs undereach section. If the sections are arranged in concentric rings, then thebeam spread of light emitted also may be controlled by selectivelyactivating the LEDs under each section.

In an embodiment, a light emitting diode (LED) module for a lightingdevice includes a substrate, a plurality of module-level conductors, anda plurality of LED sets. Each LED set includes a first section includingfirst group of LEDs, a second section including a second group of LEDs,a first conductive element that electrically connects the first sectionto a first one of the module-level conductors, and a second conductiveelement that electrically connects the second section to a second one ofthe module-level conductors. The sections of each LED set are configuredto emit light of different luminescent properties, such as differentcolors, color rendering indices, Duv values, or different colortemperatures. Thus, the sections can be grouped into units having commonluminescent properties, and each module-level conductor drives one ofthe units so that all sections of all of the LED sets corresponding tothat unit are driven by one of the module-level conductors.

Optionally, at least some of the LED sets may include at least oneadditional section including an additional group of LEDs. For eachadditional section, an additional conductive element may electricallyconnects that additional section to an additional one of themodule-level conductors. One or more optical lenses may cover each ofthe sections of any LED set. One or more non-conductive dividers may bepositioned to separate the sections of each LED set.

Optionally, the first section of each LED set may be coated with a firstphosphor coating, and the second section of each LED set may be coatedwith a second phosphor coating, to provide the first and second sectionsof each LED set with the different luminescent properties. For example,the sections may exhibit different color temperatures, and the colortemperature of each section may be a function of one or more of thefollowing: (i) a number of LEDs in the group of LEDs; (ii) one or morecharacteristics of LEDs in the group of LEDs; (iii) a concentration ofphosphor particles in a phosphor coating on the group of LEDs; or (iv)one or more light emitting characteristics of a phosphor coating on thegroup of LEDs.

Optionally, the LEDs sets may be arranged on the substrate such that thesections of at least some of the LED set are positioned to be skewedwith respect to at least one adjacent LED set.

An LED module such as that described above may be part of a lightingdevice that includes a housing, along with one or more of the (LED)modules positioned in an opening of the housing and configured to emitlight away from the housing. The lighting device also may include apower supply and a controller. The controller may be configured toselectively direct current from the power supply to the module-levelconductors to selectively drive each of the sections of each LED set.

The lighting device also may include control circuitry programmed togenerate commands to control drive currents delivered to the first groupof LEDs and the second group of LEDs in each LED set so that thelighting device emits light of a specified color temperature. By way ofexample, the first color temperature may be in a range of 3000 K-4000 K,and the second color temperature may be in a range of 6000 K-7000 K.

In some embodiments of the lighting device, the first group of LEDs ineach set exhibits a first color, each additional group of LEDs in eachset exhibits a different color, and the lighting device furthercomprises control circuitry programmed to generate commands to controldrive currents delivered to each of the groups of LEDs in each LED setso that the lighting device emits light of a specified one of thecolors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a lighting device.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an LED module for a lighting devicesuch as that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates an LED set configuration for an LED module such asthat of FIG. 1, and configured for providing tunable color or colortemperature light, according to various embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B each illustrate alternate LED set configurations forproviding tunable color or color temperature light, according to variousembodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an LED module with tunable beam spreadcharacteristics, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an LED set that may be included in the LED module ofFIG. 5 and configured for providing tunable beam spread, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates an LED module with tunable beam shaping anddirectional characteristics, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates an LED set that may be included in the LED module ofFIG. 7 and configured for providing tunable beam shapes/directions,according to various embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates different intensity distribution diagrams of patternsof light formed using beam shaping of a lighting device, according tovarious embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates example components of an electronic device forcontrolling a lighting device, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method of adjusting color, colortemperature or other output characteristics of an LED lighting device.

FIGS. 12A-B illustrate an example method of adjusting beam spread(width) of an LED lighting device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used in this document, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skillin the art. As used in this document, the term “comprising” means“including, but not limited to.”

When used in this document, terms such as “top” and “bottom,” “upper”and “lower”, or “front” and “rear,” are not intended to have absoluteorientations but are instead intended to describe relative positions ofvarious components with respect to each other. For example, a firstcomponent may be an “upper” component and a second component may be a“lower” component when a light fixture is oriented in a first direction.The relative orientations of the components may be reversed, or thecomponents may be on the same plane, if the orientation of a lightfixture that contains the components is changed. The claims are intendedto include all orientations of a device containing such components.

The term “color” as used herein with reference to light is meant todescribe a characteristic average wavelength of the light that resultsin the general appearance of a color. The term it is not meant to limitthe light to a single wavelength. Thus, light of a particular color(e.g., green, red, blue, yellow, etc.) includes a range of wavelengthsthat are grouped around an average wavelength that results in lightwhich generally appears to be of the particular color. Light of aparticular color may also be characterized by a specific combination ofdiscrete wavelengths that, in combination, exhibit the particular color.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of one embodiment of a lighting devicethat may include a various lighting modules. As shown in FIG. 1, thelighting device 100 includes a housing 101 that encases variouscomponents of a light fixture. The housing 101 includes an opening inwhich various LED modules 110 are positioned. Any number of LED modules110, such as one, two, three, four, five or more may be positionedwithin the opening in any configuration.

The device's housing 101 may include a body portion that serves as aheat sink for dissipating heat that is generated by the LEDs. Thebody/heat sink may be formed of aluminum and/or other metal, plastic orother material, and it may include any number of fins on the exterior toincrease its surface area that will contact a surrounding cooling medium(typically, air). Thus, the body portion may have a bowl shape, the LEDmodules 110 may fit within the opening of the bowl, and heat from theLEDs may be drawn away from the LED modules 110 and dissipated via thefins on the exterior of the housing 101.

While the LED modules 110 are positioned at one side of the body, theopposing side of the body may include or be connected to a power supply105. The power supply may include a battery, solar panel, or circuitryto receive power from an external and/or other internal source. Theexternal housing of the power supply 105 also may include fins to helpdissipate heat from the power supply 105. Power may be positioned withinthe body to direct power from the power supply to the LEDs. The housing101 also may include a controller (such as a processor and memory withprogramming instructions, an application-specific integrated circuit ora system-on-a-chip configured to selectively control which groups ofLEDs in the LED modules are to receive power, and to vary the powerdelivered to the LEDs by methods such as pulse width modulation. Thehousing also may include a receiver for receiving commands from anexternal controller. The housing 101 may be attached to a supportstructure, such as a base or mounting yoke 107, optionally by one ormore connectors 108. As shown, the connectors 108 may include axlesabout which the housing 101 and/or mounting yoke 107 may be rotated toenable the lighting device to be positioned to direct light at a desiredangle.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an LED module 110 that includes asubstrate 203 on which several sets of LEDs 202 a-202 h are attached.The LED sets are positioned to emit light away from the lighting device.In addition, the substrate may be of any shape, such as thefootball-shape shown, or a square, circle, oval, diamond, rectangle, orany other shape. Various conductors and/or electronic devices, andlenses for the LED sets, may be mounted on the substrate. For example, aset of module-level conductors 211 a-211 d may be connected to thelighting device's power source (via a controller) and ground. Eachmodule-level conductor may be connected to one of the conductiveelements for each LED set (described below) to selectively delivercurrent to one of the LED sections in each LED set.

One or more control circuits (such as control cards) may be positionedunder, adjacent to or otherwise near the LEDs to provide power to eachLED set. The LEDs to which power is supplied may be selectivelycontrolled by control circuitry. The control circuit may include asupporting substrate made of a material such as fiberglass, and anon-transitory computable-readable memory for storing programminginstructions and/or monitored data and/or operational history data, oneor more processors, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other integrated circuitstructures, and a received for receiving control signals from anexternal transmitter.

FIG. 3 illustrates an expanded view of an LED set, according to anembodiment. As shown, an LED set 300 includes a substrate 301 (such as aprinted circuit board) on which various groups of LEDs (contained ineach section 303 a-b) are positioned under a common lens. Alternatively,each section, or various groups of LEDs within each section, may includeits own associated covering lens. In an embodiment, a silicone or otheroptional non-conductive divider may prevent mixing of light fromdifferent sections and/or may include reflective properties. The LED setmay include COB LEDs in which multiple die are bonded directly to allowfor optimum heat dissipation, and solderless fabrication. The die may beblue, red, yellow, or any other desired color. Alternatively, the LEDset may be formed of chip scale packaging (CSP) LEDs, or other types ofLEDs. The LEDs (or multiple dies) are subgrouped so that each subgroupis wired to operate as one electrical device with two contacts,irrespective of the number of dies or LEDs.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, each subgroup of one or more LEDs ormay make up a section 303 a, 303 b of the LED set. Each section 303 a,303 b is connected to a positive conductive element 304 a, 304 b (suchas a conductive trace) for connection to the power source via one of themodule-level conductive elements, and to a ground conductive element 305a, 305 b to provide an electrical path to ground. Each section of eachLED set will have its own dedicated positive conductive element so thatone of the module-level conductive elements will deliver current to oneof the sections of each LED set. The positive conductive trace for eachsection will lead to a power source (e.g., via conductors 211 a and 211b of FIG. 2 and a controller), while the ground may be connected to oneof the conductors (e.g., conductor 211 d) or otherwise to ground. Theground conductive elements may be separate as shown, or the two sectionsmay share a common ground element. Each LED set 300 may also have itsown heat sink framework such as, for example, a metal clad substratethat transmits heat to the heat sink of the light fixture body. In anembodiment, the multiple LEDs or dies may have same or different lightemission wavelengths. For example, the light wavelength can be selectedfrom ultraviolet light of 200-410 nm, blue light of 410-500 nm, greenlight of 500-570 nm, yellow light of 570-580 nm, amber light of 580-590nm, red light of 590-650 nm, deep red light of 650-680 nm, and infraredlight of 680-960 nm.

Thus, the sections of the LED sets in each LED module can be groupedinto units having common luminescent properties. Each module-levelconductor drives one of the units so that all sections of all of the LEDsets corresponding to that unit are driven by one of the module-levelconductors.

According to an embodiment, each LED set includes two or more sections303 a and 303 b, optionally separated by one or more non-conductivedividers 306 (made of silicone or any other suitable nonconductivematerial). In an embodiment, the non-conductive divider may preventmixing of light from different sections. Each section has a phosphorcoating covering the LEDs in the respective section. The phosphorcoating layers of each section may have different emissioncharacteristics with respect to each other, so that at least two of thesections will have different luminescent properties. The properties maybe different colors (emission spectra), different color temperatures,different wavelengths, different persistences, different chromaticity,different color rendering indices (CCT), different correlated colorrendering indices (CRI), different Duv values, and/or other properties.Each phosphor coating may include phosphor particles disposed in one ormore active layers over the LEDs, such as over the inner surface of anoptical component that covers the LEDs s and/or directly over the LEDs.In an embodiment, the phosphors are mixed in a suitable solvent mediumwith a binder and, optionally, a surfactant and a plasticizer. Theresulting mixture is deposited by any of spraying, screen printing,blade coating, jetting, or other suitable means. In an embodiment, byvarying the type and relative concentration of phosphor particles, andtype and concentration of dies in each of the sections, differentemission spectra from each section may be achieved.

Phosphors are luminescent materials that absorb radiation of aparticular wavelength and emit radiation in another wavelength. Theemitted radiation generally has a larger wavelength than that of theabsorbed radiation. The excitation of the phosphor thereby occurs in theultraviolet (UV) light range or in the visible range. Availablephosphors are commonly excited in wide wavelength ranges, and these arereferred to as excitation spectra. Also the emission does not occur atone wavelength but over a certain wavelength range. Through carefultuning of the phosphor composition and structure, the spectral contentof the emitted light can be tailored to meet certain performancecriteria.

By way of example, phosphors may be chosen from the set denoted by thefollowing chemical formulas: Y3Al5O12:Ce, (also known as YAG:Ce, orsimply YAG) (Y,Gd)3Al5O12:Ce, CaS:Eu, SrS:Eu, SrGa2S4:Eu,Ca3(Sc,Mg)2Si3O12:Ce, Ca3Sc2Si3O12:Ce, Ca3Sc2O4:Ce, Ba3Si6O12N2:Eu,(Sr,Ca)AlSiN3:Eu, CaAlSiN3:Eu, CaAlSi(ON)3:Eu, Ba2SiO4:Eu, Sr2SiO4:Eu,Ca2SiO4:Eu, CaSc2O4:Ce, CaSi2O2N2:Eu, SrSi2O2N2:Eu, BaSi2O2N2:Eu,Ca5(PO4)3Cl:Eu, Ba5(PO4)3Cl:Eu, Cs2CaP2O7, Cs2SrP2O7, Lu3Al5O12:Ce,Ca8Mg(SiO4)4Cl2:Eu, Sr8Mg(SiO4)4Cl2:Eu, La3Si6N11:Ce, Y3Ga5O12:Ce,Gd3Ga5O12:Ce, Tb3Al5O12:Ce, Tb3Ga5O12:Ce, and Lu3Ga5O12:Ce.

It will be understood to those skilled in the art that a phosphorcoating is used as an example in this disclosure, and other colorconversion materials such as dichroic dyes and quantum dots may also beused.

In an embodiment, each section of an LED set may be configured to emitlight in a certain color temperature range using various permutationsand combinations of concentration and emission spectra of the dies ineach section and/or the concentration and the emission spectra of thephosphor layer in each section. The emission spectra of each section maybe adjusted to emit light in the desired color temperature range. In anembodiment, the color temperature of a an LED set may be controlled byselectively controlling the drive currents delivered to each section ofan LED set, while maintaining a constant overall illuminance.

For example, in the LED set of FIG. 3, section 303 a (Section 1) may becoated with a phosphor having properties that are configured to emitlight in a range of 3000-4000K, and section 303 b (Section 2) may becoated with a phosphor having properties that are configured to emitlight in a range of 6000-7000K, or vice versa. This may be done byforming a set of dies, each of which has the same or substantiallysimilar emitting properties, which two sections in which each phosphorhas a different emitting property. For example, the phosphor layer ofSection 1 may be configured to emit light at approximately 3500K, whilethe phosphor layer of Section 2 may be configured to emit light atapproximately 6500K.

Hence, by controlling the drive currents delivered to the two sections,the color temperature of the LED set may be adjusted for a range of3000K-7000K. For example, if Section 1 requires 300 mA of current, andSection 2 requires 300 mA of current to deliver light at constantilluminances (based on power output), by varying the current from 0-300mA in Section 1 and 0-300 mA in Section 2, any desired color temperaturelight, in the range 3000K-7000K, may be emitted from the COB LED. In anembodiment, if the system receives a command to emit light at aspecified color temperature, it may use an algorithm, reference a lookuptable, or use other suitable methods to determine what drive currents toapply to each section to achieve the desired temperature. For example,in an embodiment, the system may deliver a color temperature ofapproximately 4500-4600 K by delivering a drive current of approximately155-180 mA to both Sections 1 and 2; a color temperature ofapproximately 5400-5600 K by delivering a drive current of approximately250-275 mA to Section 2 and approximately 65-85 mA to Section 1; a colortemperature of approximately 3800-4100 K by delivering a drive currentof approximately 250-275 mA to Section 1 and approximately 65-85 mA toSection 2; and a color temperature of approximately 3500 K by deliveringa drive current of approximately 300 mA to Section 1 and approximately 0mA to Section 2, while maintaining a constant illuminance.

Other control methods are possible. For example, the system may includea user interface that with an input that enables a user to select adesired output light characteristic, either from a set of availableoptions or any value within a range using a numeric input or adjustabletuner. FIG. 11 illustrates an example user interface in the form of aspreadsheet in which a user may select any number of settings(represented by the “DMX” column, each of which corresponds to aparticular CCT value and/or percentage driven setting), and/or the CCTvalues themselves, each of which results from the selective activationof each section of the LED set. In the example shown, as illustrated bythe graph, one section of the LED set includes a relatively cool (6500K)LED group and the other section of the LED set includes a relativelywarm (3000K) LED group. The CCT value of the light output by the LED setis a function of how much of the total current is applied to each of thetwo sections. The function is shown in the graph, with Y-axisrepresenting the percentage of total lumens output by each type of LEDsection and the X-axis representing the CCT value of the resultingoutput light. User selection of the 178 DMX setting (or CCT of 5440K)will cause the controller to direct 80% of the total current to the cool(6500K) LED groups in each LED set and 20% of the total current to thewarm (3000K) LED groups in each LED set, yielding output light with aCCT value of 5440K. If the user selects a 91 DMX value or CCT value of4246, the controller will apply an equal amount of current to each ofthe LED groups. The functions shown in FIG. 11 are by way of example fora particular LED set; other functions and graphs may apply to LEDshaving different color temperature, luminance, or other characteristics.

While the example shown in FIG. 3 shows an LED set with sections thatare of equal size, in other embodiments the sections may have sizes thatare not all equal to each other.

The system may perform diagnostics on a chip to learn this informationduring an initialization process, or this information may be entered asa data file or manually and then stored in a memory of the device (or ina memory that is external to the device) for use during operation of thelighting system. It will be understood to those skilled in the art thatwhile the two sections of the COB LED are described as having emissionspectra in a color temperature range, they can also be described asemitting light of specific colors such as yellow and white light, greenand red light, green and yellow light, or yellow and red light.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate other examples of an LED set with additionalnumbers of sections according to embodiments in which various sectionsof each LED set are configured to emit light of varying colors. As shownin FIG. 4A, an LED set 400 includes a substrate 401 on which a group ofLEDs are positioned under a common lens. Alternatively, each section, orvarious groups of LEDs within each section, may include its ownassociated covering lens. The LED set may be COB LEDs in which multipledies are bonded directly to allow for optimum heat dissipation, andsolderless fabrication. Alternatively, as discussed above, the LED setmay be formed of CSP LEDs, or other types of LEDs. The dies or LEDs maybe blue, red, yellow, or any other desired color. Further, as with theexample of FIG. 3, in FIGS. 4A and 4B the LEDs (or multiple dies) aresubgrouped into sections so that each subgroup is wired to operate asone electrical device with two contacts, irrespective of the number ofdies or LEDs. In the LED set of FIG. 4A, each subgroup of LEDs in an LEDset 400 may include three sections 403 a, 403 b, and 403 c of LEDs, Asshown in FIG. 4A, each subgroup has its own positive conductive element(404 a, 404 b, and 404 c). The sub-groups may share a ground conductiveelement 405.

Each section of the LED set 400 has a phosphor coating covering the LEDsin the respective section, such that each section has a distinctemission spectrum and/or different luminescent properties. One or moreof the sections may optionally be separated a silicone (or othernon-conductive material) dividers 406 a, 406 b, and 406 c. In an exampleembodiment, the three sections 403 a, 403 b, and 403 c may be configured(using the methods discussed above) that one section emits blue light of410-500 nm, a second section emits red light of 590-650 nm, and a thirdsection emits green light of 500-570 nm. This may be done by coveringthe sections with phosphor layers that are made of, for example, ZnS:Ag(blue) Y₂O₂S:Eu+Fe₂O₃ (red), and ZnO:Zn (green). Other phosphor layermaterials that will emit light in the appropriate color ranges may beused. In an embodiment, color temperature of an LED set 400 may becontrolled by controlling the drive currents delivered to each sectionof the LED set using known methods to obtain a desired colortemperature, while maintaining a constant overall illuminance.

FIG. 4B illustrates an LED set 410 that is similar to the LED set 400 ofFIG. 4A but includes four sections 413 a, 413 b, 413 c, and 413 d,optionally separated by non-conductive dividers, and in which eachsection has a phosphor coating covering the LEDs in the respectivesection such that each section has a distinct emission spectrum (e.g.,red, green, blue, and amber). In this situation, phosphor layers made ofmaterials such as those described above, along with a layer made ofInBO₃:Tb+InBO₃:Eu (amber), may be used. Each section has its ownpositive conductive element (414 a, 414 b, 414 c and 414 d). Thesections may share a ground conductive element 415. Other embodimentsmay include more or less number of sections in a COB LED such as 5, 6,7, or the like. In addition, while the examples shown in FIGS. 4A and 4Bshow LED sets with sections that are of equal size, in other embodimentsthe sections may have sizes that are not all equal to each other.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, a lighting device 100 may include oneor more LED modules 110, each of which includes several sets of LEDs 202a-202 h. In an embodiment, the LED modules and their corresponding LEDsets may be positioned in the housing 101 such that a uniform colortemperature and/or intensity of light is emitted in all directions. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 2, the LED sets 202 a-202 h are arranged suchthat orientation of each LED set is reversed 180° with respect to itsneighboring LED sets. Specifically, Section 1 of alternating LED sets ison the left side with Section 2 on the right side, such that Section 1of the remaining alternate LED sets is on the right side with Section 2on the left side. The LED sets 202 a-202 h of FIG. 2 may be replacedwith LED sets including different numbers of sections, such as thoseshown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. In an embodiment, if the individual LED setsof a lighting device include three distinct sections (such as that shownin FIG. 4A), each subsequent LED sets after a first LED set exhibits aphase shift so that it is positioned such that it is rotated 120° in theclockwise or counterclockwise direction (such as the LED set shown inFIG. 4A) with respect to any adjacent LED sets on the substrate. In anembodiment, if the individual LED sets of a lighting device include fourdistinct sections (such as the LED set shown in FIG. 4B), eachsubsequent LED set after a first LED set exhibits a phase shift so thatit is positioned such that it is rotated 90° in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction with respect to adjacent LED sets (as shown in FIG.4B). Similarly, referring back to FIG. 2 and the LED set of FIG. 3, in atwo-section embodiment, the LED sets may be variously positioned atalternating 180° rotations. Although FIG. 3 illustrates particularangles of rotation, any skew (i.e., rotation) with respect to adjacentLED sets is possible, and each LED set need not exhibit the same skew ascompared to other LED sets in an LED module.

While the current disclosure illustrates example lighting devices havinga single type of LED set, it will be understood to those skilled in theart that a lighting device may include different types of LED sets thatmay be individually controlled to provide light of a desired colortemperature. For example, some LED sets of a lighting device, or of anLED module within a device, may include two (or a first number) ofsections, while other LED sets in the device or LED module may includefour (or a different number of) sections. Also, various LED sets of anLED module or lighting device may include different combinations ofphosphors. In an embodiment, the different LED sets of a lighting devicemay be individually controlled such that they all provide light of thesame desired color temperature (such that the light from the lightingdevice also has the overall desired color temperature). Alternativelyand/or additionally, the different LED sets of a lighting device may beindividually controlled such that they provide light in different colortemperatures such that the combination of the different colortemperatures provides light in an overall desired color temperature fromthe lighting device. In an embodiment, if the system receives a commandto emit light at a specified color temperature, it may use an algorithm,reference a lookup table, or use other suitable methods to determinewhat drive currents to apply to each section of individual LED set toachieve the desired color temperature. It should be noted that aconstant illuminance is maintained while performing color tuning of thelighting device to obtain the desired color temperature.

In another aspect of this disclosure, a lighting device with beam widthtuning capabilities to dynamically create desired beam patterns(spreads) is disclosed.

The light distribution of a floodlight is known as the “beam spread.”Beam spread types may be classified based on one or more standards, suchas those established by the National Electric Manufacturer's Association(NEMA). When used with reference to beam spread, the “NEMA type” rangesfrom type 1 (most narrow) to type 7 (widest spread) and may bedetermined by two angles (horizontal and vertical), where the lightintensity is 10% of the maximum beam intensity. Examples of beam spreadclassifications include NEMA type 1 (beam spread 10-18 degrees), NEMAtype 2 (beam spread 18-29 degrees), NEMA type 3 (beam spread 29-46degrees), NEMA type 4 (beam spread 46-70 degrees), NEMA type 5 (beamspread 70-100 degrees), NEMA type 6 (beam spread 100-130 degrees), andNEMA type 7 (beam spread 130 degrees and up). The NEMA designationdetermines how wide or narrow the light is projected out of afloodlight. In an example, if the horizontal beam spread of a lightingdevice is 100° and the vertical beam spread of the lighting device is46°, then the NEMA type for the device is 5×3. Other parameters of theoutput light, such as peak candela (brightness) and candela per lumen,may be used in the control of beam spread and/or width in theembodiments below.

FIG. 5 illustrates a lighting device LED module 510 that includes beamspread tuning capabilities using optical and/or electrical components.The LED module 510 of FIG. 5 is similar to the LED module 110 of FIG. 2in that it includes various LED sets 502 a-502 h, attached to asubstrate 503, and it is configured to fit within a housing of alighting device such as device 100 of FIG. 1. However, the LED sets 502a-502 h included in the LED module 510 of FIG. 5 provide beam spreadtuning capabilities, as discussed below with respect to FIG. 6.

As with the embodiment of FIG. 2, in FIG. 5 various conductors and/orelectronic devices, and lenses for the LED sets, may be mounted on thesubstrate. For example, a set of module-level conductors 511 a-511 d maybe connected to the lighting device's power source (via a controller)and ground. Each module-level conductor may be connected to one of theconductive elements for each LED set (described below) to selectivelydeliver current to one of the LED sections in each LED set.

Also as with the embodiment of FIG. 2, in FIG. 5 one or more controlcircuits (such as control cards) may be positioned under, adjacent to orotherwise near the LEDs to provide power to each LED set. The LEDs towhich power is supplied may be selectively controlled by controlcircuitry. The control circuit may include a supporting substrate madeof a material such as fiberglass, and a non-transitorycomputable-readable memory for storing programming instructions and/ormonitored data and/or operational history data, one or more processors,an FPGA, ASIC or other integrated circuit structures, and a received forreceiving control signals from an external transmitter.

As shown in FIG. 6 illustrating an expanded view of an LED set, an LEDset 600 includes a substrate 601 on which a group of LEDs (notspecifically shown, but contained in each section 603 a-c) arepositioned under a common lens. Alternatively, each section, or variousgroups of LEDs within each section, may include its own associatedcovering lens. The LED set may be COB LEDs in which multiple dies arebonded directly to allow for optimum heat dissipation, and solderlessfabrication. Alternatively, the LED set may be formed of CSP LEDs, orother types of LEDs. Each LED set may also have its own heat sinkframework such as, for example, a metal clad substrate that transmitsheat to the heat sink of the light fixture body.

Further, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 2, the LEDs (ormultiple dies) may be subgrouped so that each sub-group is wired tooperate as one electrical device with two contacts, irrespective of thenumber of dies or LEDs. In the LED set of FIG. 6, the subgroups of LEDsin the LED set 610 may make up three sections 603 a, 603 b, and 603 c.As shown in FIG. 6, each subgroup has its own positive conductiveelement (604 a, 604 b, and 604 c). The sub-groups may share a groundconductive element 605. Although three sections (subgroups) are shown inFIG. 6, any number of sections may be provided. Each conductive element604 a, 604 b, and 604 c will be electrically connected to one of themodule-level conductors (e.g., conductors 511 a-511 d of FIG. 5) toselectively receive power as controlled by a controller.

In an embodiment, sections 603 a, 603 b, and 603 c (Section 1, Section2, and Section 3) of the LED set may be arranged in concentric ringsthat are separated by dividers 606 a and 606 b that are formed ofsilicone or another non-conductive material. The shape and size of eachsection of the LED set will exhibit a particular beam spread of light,with the innermost section 603 a having the narrowest beam spread andthe outermost section 603 c having the widest beam spread. The beamspread of each section may be further configured using one or moreoptical properties (such as focal length of a part of the lens coveringa section) and/or placement of the LEDs or dies, designed to produce aparticular output beam angle and thus control beam divergence) of lightemitted from the LEDs or dies.

The beam spread of light emitted by the LED sets may be controlled by acontroller that is controlled to vary the beam spread of light emittedby the device by selectively activating the LEDs sections of each LEDsets. Selective activation may be binary (i.e., turning the LEDs in aparticular section on or off), or by varying a level of currentdelivered to each section. In an embodiment, the sections may bearranged concentrically, but other arrangements and configurations arewithin the scope of this disclosure.

Furthermore, two or more output beam angles from two or more sectionsmay be combined (additively and/or by superimposing) to providedifferent permutations and combinations of beam widths and beam spreads,along with varying intensities of light. In an embodiment, the beamwidths for each section are different, with the beam widths increasingfrom smallest at central Section 1 and the widest at peripheral Section3, but the intensities of light emitted by each section are the same sothat selective activation of each section will vary the beam spread oflight emitted by the LED module without varying the intensity of lightemitted as the beam spread changes. Alternatively, the intensity oflight emitted may be increased as the beam spread increases byactivating two or more of the sections of each LED set at the same time.

For example, in the LED set of FIG. 6, section 603 a (Section 1) may beconfigured to emit a NEMA 1 beam spread (i.e., 10° to 18°), and section603 b (Section 2) may be configured to output a NEMA 2 beam spread(i.e., 18° to 29°), and section 603 c (Section 3) may be configured tooutput a NEMA 3 beam spread (i.e., 29° to 46°). Hence, by selectivelycontrolling the drive currents delivered to the three sections, theoverall beam spread of the LED set may be dynamically adjusted todeliver light in beam widths corresponding to NEAM 1, NEMA 2, NEMA 3, ora combination thereof. For example, if Section 1 requires X mA ofcurrent, Section 2 requires Y mA of current, and Section 3 requires Z mAof current, by varying the current from 0-X mA in Section 1, 0-Y mA inSection 2, and 0-Z mA in Section 3, the beam pattern of light emittedfrom the LED set may be controlled. For example, if 0 mA current isdelivered to Section 2 and Section 3, a NEMA 1 beam pattern of lightwill be achieved. In another example, some non-zero drive current in theabove ranges may be delivered to all three sections to achieve a desiredbeam pattern. In an embodiment, if the system receives a command tooutput light in a specific beam pattern, it may use an algorithm,reference a lookup table that is stored in a memory, or use othersuitable methods to determine what drive currents to apply to eachsection to achieve the desired beam pattern. The system may beprogrammed to learn this information during an initialization process,or this information may be entered as a data file or manually and thenstored for use during operation of the lighting system.

While FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate LED sets with three sections, differentnumbers of sections, each having a specific output beam pattern, arewithin the scope of this disclosure. In addition, while currentdisclosure illustrates example lighting devices having the same type ofLED sets, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that alighting device may include different types of LED sets that may beindividually controlled to provide light of a beam pattern. In anembodiment, the different LED sets of an LED module or a lighting devicemay be individually controlled such that they all provide light of thesame desired beam pattern (such that the light from the LED moduleand/or lighting device also has the overall desired beam pattern).Alternatively and/or additionally, the different LED modules of alighting device may be individually controlled such that they providelight in different beam patterns such that the combination of thedifferent beam patterns provides light in an overall desired beampattern from the lighting device. In an embodiment, if the systemreceives a command to emit light at a specified beam pattern, it may usean algorithm, reference a lookup table, or use other suitable methods todetermine what drive currents to apply to each section of individual LEDset to achieve the desired beam pattern. In addition, any LED module mayinclude any combination of LED set types disclosed in this document,such as some that permit control of output color and/or colortemperature, some that permit control of the beam spread, and some thatpermit control of the beam shape. In some embodiments, a constantilluminance and/or color temperature may be maintained while performingbeam pattern tuning of the lighting device to obtain the desired beampattern.

In some embodiments, the various sections of an LED set such as thatshown in FIG. 6 may have a specific beam spread as well as a specificcolor temperature output (or color emission range) such that both thebeam spread and the color or color temperature of the LED set aretunable. In such embodiments, the multiple LEDs or dies may beconfigured to exhibit light of the same wavelength, or of or differentlight wavelengths. For example, the light wavelength of any section canbe selected from ultraviolet light of 200-410 nm, blue light of 410-500nm, green light of 500-570 nm, yellow light of 570-580 nm, amber lightof 580-590 nm, red light of 590-650 nm, deep red light of 650-680 nm,and infrared light of 680-960 nm. Each LED set may be configured to emitlight at a specific color temperature, for example from 2000K to 7000K.The configuration of each section to emit light at different colorsand/or color temperatures may be done with phosphor coatings and/orother designs as discussed above in the context of FIG. 3. As discussedabove, the color temperature output may be controlled by using variouspermutations and combinations of concentration and emission spectra ofthe LEDs in each section and/or the properties (such as concentrationand the emission spectra) of the phosphor layer in each section.

For example, referring to FIG. 6, Section 1 603 a may be configured toemit light in a range of 3000-4000K, Section 2 603 b may be configuredto emit light in a range of 6000-7000K, and Section 3 603 c may beconfigured to emit light in the 3000-4000K range. Alternatively, Section1 603 a may be configured to emit light in a range of 6000-7000K,Section 2 603 b may be configured to emit light in a range of3000-4000K, and Section 3 603 b may be configured to emit light in the6000-7000K range. Other color temperature ranges and combinations arepossible. Hence, in an embodiment, the drive currents delivered to thevarious sections may be dynamically manipulated to provide an adjustableoverall the color temperature in the range of 3000K-7000K, as well as tocontrol the beam pattern of the light delivered from the LED set usingthe principles discussed above. Sections 1-3 may be configured to emitlight of different colors (e.g., red-green-blue).

Other control methods are possible. For example, the system may includea user interface that with an input that enables a user to select adesired output light characteristic, either from a set of availableoptions or any value within a range using a numeric input or adjustabletuner. FIG. 12A illustrates an example user interface in the form of aspreadsheet in which a user may select any number of settings (such as acandela output level, a beam width, and/or a DMX setting correspondingto a particular scene), each of which corresponds to the relativeapplication of a percentage of the total drive current to and/or totallumens output by each section of the LED set. FIG. 12B illustrates thefunctions of FIG. 12A in graphic format. In the example shown, each LEDset includes three sections, each of which is relatively cooler orwarmer (in color temperature values and/or lumens output per drivecurrent amount) with respect to each of its adjacent sections. Selectionof various settings will result in application of various portions ofthe total current to each section of each LED set. The function is shownin the graph, with Y-axis representing the percentage that each LEDsection contributes to the total lumens output by the LED set, and theX-axis representing the NEMA beam spread value of the resulting outputlight. The controller may adjust each LED section's percentagecontribution to the total lumens output by varying the percentage oftotal drive current delivered to each LED section.

As discussed above, different numbers of sections, each having aspecific output beam pattern and color temperature (or color range suchas RGBA), are within the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, alighting device and/or LED module may include LED sets of a single type,or different individually controlled LED sets.

In another aspect of this disclosure, a lighting device with beamshaping capabilities to dynamically create desired beam shapes isdisclosed.

FIG. 7 illustrates an LED module 703 which includes beam shapingcapabilities (which are not fixed at the time of manufacture) usingoptical and/or electrical components.

The LED module 710 of FIG. 7 is similar to the LED module 110 of FIG. 2in that it includes one or more LED sets 702 a-702 h, attached to asubstrate 703, and is configured to fit within a housing of a lightingdevice. However, in this embodiment the LED sets included in the LEDmodule 700 provide beam shaping capabilities, as discussed below withrespect to FIG. 8.

As with the embodiment of FIG. 2, in FIG. 7 various conductors and/orelectronic devices, and lenses for the LED sets, may be mounted on thesubstrate. For example, a set of module-level conductors 711 a-711 d maybe connected to the lighting device's power source (via a controller)and ground. Each module-level conductor may be connected to one of theconductive elements for each LED set (described below) to selectivelydeliver current to one of the LED sections in each LED set.

Also as with the embodiment of FIG. 2, in FIG. 7 one or more controlcircuits (such as control cards) may be positioned under, adjacent to orotherwise near the LEDs to provide power to each LED set. The LEDs towhich power is supplied may be selectively controlled by controlcircuitry. The control circuit may include a supporting substrate madeof a material such as fiberglass, and a non-transitorycomputable-readable memory for storing programming instructions and/ormonitored data and/or operational history data, one or more processors,an FPGA, ASIC or other integrated circuit structures, and a received forreceiving control signals from an external transmitter.

As shown in FIG. 8 illustrating an expanded view of an LED set of thetype shown in FIG. 7, an LED set 800 includes a substrate 801 on which agroup of LEDs (not specifically shown, but contained in each section 803a-803 d) are positioned under a common lens. The LED set may be COB LEDsin which multiple dies are bonded directly to allow for optimum heatdissipation, and solderless fabrication. Alternatively, the LED set maybe formed of CSD LEDs, or other types of LEDs. Each LED set may alsohave its own heat sink framework such as, for example, a metal cladsubstrate that transmits heat to the heat sink of the light fixturebody. In an embodiment, the multiple LED dies may have same or differentlight wavelengths. For example, the light wavelength can be selectedfrom ultraviolet light of 200-410 nm, blue light of 410-500 nm, greenlight of 500-570 nm, yellow light of 570-580 nm, amber light of 580-590nm, red light of 590-650 nm, deep red light of 650-680 nm, and infraredlight of 680-960 nm. The LED set is configured to emit light at one ormore specific color temperatures, for example from 2000K to 7000K.

Further, as with other embodiments discussed above, in this LED set theLEDs (or multiple dies) are subgrouped into sections so that eachsections is wired to operate as one electrical device with two contacts,irrespective of the number of dies or LEDs within the section. In theLED set of FIG. 8, subgroups of LEDs in the LED set 800 make up foursections 803 a-803 d. The sections may optionally be separatednon-conductive dividers 806 a-806 d made of silicone or any othersuitable non-conductive material. Each section has its own positiveconductive element (804 a-804 d) that is connected to one of themodule-level conductors (e.g., conductors 711 a-711 d of FIG. 7). Thesub-groups may share a ground conductive element 805. Additional numbersand configurations of sections are possible.

In an embodiment, sections 803 a-803 d (Section 1, Section 2, Section 3,and Section 4) of the LED set are positioned to form quadrants and arethus may be configured such that the LEDs of each section provide lightin a desired direction. The direction of light provided by each sectionmay be configured using one or more optical properties (such as focallength a part of lens covering a section), configuration of LEDs and/orphosphors in each section, or the like, designed to produce a desiredoutput light emission angle. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, thesections are arranged as four uniform quadrants of a round LED set. Itwill be understood to those skilled in the art that other uniform ornon-uniform shapes of the sections and/or the LED set are within thescope of disclosure and may be designed to output light in a pre-defineddirection.

In an embodiment, the directions of light provided by two or moresections of an LED set may be combined in different permutations orcombinations to configure the overall shape of a beam of light providedby the LED set. In an embodiment, the beam shape of light provided froman LED set may be controlled by controlling the drive currents deliveredto the dies in each section of the LED set, while maintaining a constantoverall illuminance and color temperature.

For example, in the LED set of FIG. 8, each section, i.e., section 803 a(Section 1), section 803 b (Section 2), section 803 c (Section 3), andsection 803 d (Section 4) may be configured to output light in aradially outwards direction. Hence, by controlling the drive currentsdelivered to the four sections, the overall beam shape of the lightoutput from the LED set may be dynamically adjusted. For example, ifSection 1 requires W mA of current, Section 2 requires X mA of current,Section 3 requires Y mA of current, and Section 4 requires Z mA ofcurrent by varying the current from 0-W mA in Section 1, 0-X mA inSection 2, 0-Y mA in Section 3, and 0-Z mA in Section 4 the beam shapeof light output from the LED set may be controlled, while maintaining aconstant illuminance level. Each of the sections of an LED set mayprovide equal light intensity at their respective maximum drivecurrents.

Example illumination distributions of different beam shapes obtained bycontrolling drive currents to various sections of the LED set of FIG. 8are illustrated in FIG. 9. In FIG. 9, image 951 illustrates theillumination distribution of a beam shape obtained by providing maximumcurrent (or drive currents that provide equal intensity) to Sections 1and 3 (i.e., W mA to Section 1 and Y mA to Section 3), and providingless than maximum drive currents to Section 2 (<X mA) and Section 4 (<ZmA). Image 952 illustrates the illumination distribution of a beam shapeobtained by providing drive currents to each section such that theyoutput equal intensities of light, to provide a uniform illuminationdistribution. Image 953 illustrates a beam shape in which upper andlower sectors are driven at a 0.75× intensity while right and leftsectors are driven at a 0.25× intensity.

In an embodiment, if the system receives a command to emit light in aspecific beam shape, it may use an algorithm, reference a lookup table,or use other suitable methods to determine what drive currents to applyto each section to achieve the desired beam shape. The system mayperform diagnostics on a chip to learn this information during aninitialization process, or this information may be entered as a datafile or manually and then stored for use during operation of thelighting system.

While FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate LED sets with four sections, LED setswith different numbers of sections, such as 2, 3, 5 or 6 sections, arewithin the scope of this disclosure. While the current disclosureillustrates example LED modules 810 having a single type of LED set, itwill be understood to those skilled in the art that a lighting device orLED module within the device may include different types of LED setsthat may be individually controlled to provide light of a desire beamshape. In an embodiment, the different LED sets of a lighting device maybe individually controlled such that they all provide light in a singledirection (such as radially outwards). Alternatively and/oradditionally, the different LED sets of a lighting device may beindividually controlled such that they provide light in differentdirections such that the combination of the different directionsprovides light in an overall desired beam shapes from the lightingdevice. The beam shape by be controlled by a controller that iscontrolled to vary the beam spread of light emitted by the device byselectively activating the LEDs that are positioned under each of thesections. Selective activation may be binary (i.e., turning the LEDs ina particular section on or off), or by varying a level of currentdelivered to each section. In an embodiment, if the system receives acommand to emit light at a specified beam shape, it may use analgorithm, reference a lookup table, or use other suitable methods todetermine what drive currents to apply to each section of individual LEDset to achieve the desired beam shape. It should be noted that aconstant illuminance and/or color temperature is maintained whileperforming beam shaping of the lighting device to obtain the desiredbeam pattern.

As with other embodiments, each section 803 a-803 d may be configured tooutput the same color and color temperature of light, or differentsections may use phosphor coatings or other structures to output lighthaving various different colors, color temperatures or othercharacteristics.

As discussed above, the color temperature output may be controlled byusing various permutations and combinations of concentration andemission spectra of the dies in each section and/or the properties (suchas concentration and the emission spectra) of the phosphor layer in eachsection. For example, Section 1 803 a and Section 2 803 b may beconfigured to emit light in a range of 6000-7000K, and Section 3 803 cand Section 4 803 d may be configured to emit light in a range of3000-4000K. Alternatively, Section 1 803 a and Section 2 803 b may beconfigured to emit light in a range of 3000-4000K, and Section 3 803 cand Section 4 803 d may be configured to emit light in a range of6000-7000K. Hence, in an embodiment, the drive currents delivered to thethree sections may be dynamically manipulated to adjust the colortemperature in the range of 3000K-7000K, as well as control the beamshape of the light delivered from the LED set (using the principlesdiscussed above).

As discussed above, different number of sections, each having a specificoutput beam shape and color temperature (or color range such as RGBA),such as 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 sections are within the scope of thisdisclosure. Furthermore, a lighting device may include a single type ofLED set or different types of individually controlled LED sets.

Thus, LED modules having LED sets as shown in FIGS. 5-8 may beconfigured to provide capabilities for color temperature tuning, beampattern tuning, beam shaping, or a combination thereof, using theprinciples discussed above.

In an embodiment, one or more of the lighting devices discussed abovemay include one or more internal sensors and/or may be in communicationwith one or more external sensors. Examples of sensors may include,without limitation, light intensity sensors, color rendering index (CRI)sensors, D_(uv) sensors, color temperature sensors, temperature sensor,or the like. In an embodiment, the control circuitry of the lightingdevice may operate to provide the appropriate drive currents for eachsection of the LED sets producing light in the desired colortemperature, beam pattern and/or beam shape, in response to feedbackcollected by the sensors.

In an embodiment, an orientation sensor (such as an accelerometer and/ora gyroscope) may be included in and/or may be in communication with alighting device discussed above. The lighting device may operate toprovide the appropriate drive currents for each section of the LED setsproducing light in the desired color temperature, beam pattern and/orbeam shape, in response to feedback collected by the orientation sensor.For example, a lighting device may provide appropriate drive currentsfor each section of the LED sets to maintain a desired beam shape, beamwidth, and/or color temperature at a point in the environment bycompensating for change in beam shape, beam width, and/or colortemperature due to a change in orientation of the lighting device usingthe principles discussed above.

In an embodiment, the control circuitry may control the LED sets bypulse width modulation (PWM), where an oscillating output from theprocessor repeatedly turns the dies on an LED set on and off by applyinga pulsed voltage. Each pulse is of a constant voltage level, and thecontrol circuitry varies the width of each pulse and/or the spacebetween each pulse. When a pulse is active, the dies may be turned on,and when the pulses are inactive, the dies may be turned off. If theduty cycle of the “on” state is 50%, then the dies may be on during 50%of the overall cycle of the control pulses. The pulses are deliveredrapidly so that the human eye does not detect a strobing effect—at least24 pulses per second. The control card may dim the lights by reducingthe duty cycle—and effectively extending the time period between each“on” pulse-so that the dies are off more than they are on.Alternatively, the control card may increase the brightness of the diesby increasing the duty cycle.

In another embodiment, the LED sets discussed above maybe include anoptical component for providing a total internal reflection (TIR) opticfor reflecting, collimating and further mixing the LED light.

FIG. 10 depicts an example of internal hardware that may be used tocontain or implement the various processes and systems as discussedabove, and that may serve an internal or external controller for alighting device. An electrical bus 1000 serves as an information highwayinterconnecting the other illustrated components of the hardware. Acomputing device will include one or more processors. CPU 1005 is acentral processing unit of the system, performing calculations and logicoperations required to execute a program. CPU 1005, alone or inconjunction with one or more of the other elements disclosed in FIG. 10,is a processing device, computing device or processor as such terms areused within this disclosure. As used in this document, the terms“processor” and “processing device” may include a single processor or agroup of processors that collectively perform various steps of aprocess. Read only memory (ROM) 1010 and random access memory (RAM) 1015constitute examples of memory devices. As used in this document, theterms “computer-readable medium,” “memory” or “memory device” are usedinterchangeably and may include a single memory device, a group ofmemory devices, or a sector or other subdivision of such a device.

A memory controller 1020 interfaces with one or more optional memorydevices 1025 that service as data storage facilities to the system bus1000. These memory devices 1025 may include, for example, an externalDVD drive or CD ROM drive, a hard drive, flash memory, a USB drive, adistributed storage medium such as a cloud-based architecture, oranother type of device that serves as a data storage facility. Asindicated previously, these various drives and controllers are optionaldevices. Additionally, the memory devices 1025 may be configured toinclude individual files for storing any software modules orinstructions, auxiliary data, incident data, common files for storinggroups of contingency tables and/or regression models, or one or moredatabases for storing the information as discussed above.

Programming instructions, software or interactive modules for performingany of the functional steps associated with the processes as describedabove may be stored in the ROM 1010 and/or the RAM 1015. Optionally, theprogramming instructions may be stored on a tangible computer readablemedium such as a compact disk, a digital disk, flash memory, a memorycard, a USB drive, an optical disc storage medium, an ASIC or FPGA, adistributed storage medium such as a cloud-based architecture, and/orother recording medium. The lighting device may be part of a system inwhich the memory storing programming instructions is integral with thelighting device, or the memory storing programming instructions may beexternal to the device (such as in a remote server), and the lightingdevice may access the instructions via a wired or wireless communicationnetwork.

If the system includes an audiovisual output 1045 such as a display or aspeaker, an A/V interface 1040 may permit information to be displayed onthe display or output via the speaker in audio, visual, graphic oralphanumeric format. Communication with external devices may occur usingvarious communication ports 1050. A communication port 1050 may beinclude a receptacle for receiving a cable (such as an Ethernet cable)and/or a wireless transmitter/receiver, and it may be communicativelyattached to a communications network such as the Internet, a local areanetwork or a cellular telephone data network.

The hardware may also include an interface 1045 that allows for receiptof data from input devices such as a keyboard 1060 or other input device1065 such as a remote control, a pointing device, touch screen display,a video input device and/or an audio input device. The interface may be,for example, a screen with an input device by which a user may selectfrom various scenes or light characteristic settings, or specificallyselect particular characteristics of output light, such as theinterfaces shown in FIGS. 11 and 12A.

The features and functions described above, as well as alternatives, maybe combined into many other systems or applications. Various presentlyunforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations orimprovements may be made by those skilled in the art, each of which isalso intended to be encompassed by the disclosed embodiments.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A light emitting diode (LED) module for alighting device comprising: a substrate; a plurality of module-levelconductors; and a plurality of LED sets, each of which comprises: afirst section including a first group of LEDs, a second sectionincluding a second group of LEDs, and at least a third section withthird group of LEDs, a first conductive element that electricallyconnects the first section to a first one of the module-levelconductors, and a second conductive element that electrically connectsthe second section to a second one of the module-level conductors,wherein the first section, the second section, and the third section areconfigured to emit light of different luminescent properties, andwherein the plurality of LED sets are arranged on the substrate suchthat each LED set is rotated with respect to at least one adjacent LEDset.
 2. The LED module of claim 1, wherein: at least some of the LEDsets comprise: at least one additional section including an additionalgroup of LEDs, for each additional section, an additional conductiveelement that electrically connects that additional section to anadditional one of the module-level conductors; and an optical lens thatcovers each of the sections.
 3. The LED module of claim 2, furthercomprising one or more non-conductive dividers configured to separatethe first section and the second section.
 4. The LED module of claim 1,wherein the first section of each LED set is coated with a firstphosphor coating and the second section of each LED set is coated with asecond phosphor coating to provide the first and second sections of eachLED set with the different luminescent properties.
 5. The LED module ofclaim 1, wherein the different luminescent properties comprise one ormore of the following: different colors; different color renderingindices; different Duv values; or different color temperatures.
 6. TheLED module of claim 1, wherein the different luminescent propertiescomprise different color temperatures, and each group of LEDs exhibits acolor temperature that is a function of one or more of the following: anumber of LEDs in the group of LEDs; one or more characteristics of LEDsin the group of LEDs; a concentration of phosphor particles in aphosphor coating on the group of LEDs; or one or more light emittingcharacteristics of a phosphor coating on the group of LEDs.
 7. The LEDmodule of claim 1, wherein the LEDs sets are arranged on the substratesuch that the sections of at least some of the LED sets are positionedto be skewed with respect to at least one adjacent LED set.
 8. Alighting device, comprising: a housing; and one or more light emittingdiode (LED) modules positioned in an opening of the housing andconfigured to emit light away from the housing, each LED modulecomprising: a substrate, a plurality of module-level conductors, and aplurality of LED sets, each of which comprises: a first sectionincluding a first group of LEDs; one or more additional sections, eachincluding an additional group of LEDs; a first conductive element thatelectrically connects the first section to a first one of themodule-level conductors; and one or more additional conductive elements,each of which electrically connects an additional section of one or moreof the LED sets to an additional one of the module-level conductors;wherein the first section of each LED set and at least one or the one ormore additional sections of each LED set are configured to emit light ofdifferent luminescent properties, and wherein the LEDs sets are arrangedon the substrate such that each LED set is rotated with respect to atleast one adjacent LED set.
 9. The lighting device of claim 8, furthercomprising: a power supply; and a controller configured to selectivelydirect current from the power supply to the module-level conductors toselectively drive each of the sections of each LED set.
 10. The lightingdevice of claim 8, further comprising one or more non-conductivedividers configured to separate each of the sections of each LED set.11. The lighting device of claim 8, wherein the first section of eachLED set is coated with a first phosphor coating and each additionalsection of each LED set is coated with one or more different phosphorcoatings to provide the sections of each LED set with the differentluminescent properties.
 12. The lighting device of claim 8, wherein thedifferent luminescent properties comprise one or more of the following:different colors; different color rendering indices; different Duvvalues; or different color temperatures.
 13. The lighting device ofclaim 8, wherein the different luminescent properties comprise differentcolor temperatures, and each group of LEDs exhibits a color temperaturethat is a function of one or more of the following: a number of LEDs inthe group of LEDs; one or more characteristics of LEDs in the group ofLEDs; a concentration of phosphor particles in a phosphor coating on thegroup of LEDs; or one or more light emitting characteristics of aphosphor coating on the LED set.
 14. The lighting device of claim 8,further comprising control circuitry programmed to generate commands tocontrol drive currents delivered to the first group of LEDs in each LEDset and each additional group of LEDs in each LED set so that thelighting device emits light of a specified color temperature.
 15. Thelighting device of claim 8, wherein the first section of each LED set isconfigured to emit light of color temperature that is in a range of 3000K-4000 K, and at least one of the one or more additional sections areconfigured to emit light of color temperature that is in a range of 6000K-7000 K.
 16. The lighting device of claim 8, wherein: the first groupof LEDs in each LED set exhibits a first color; each additional group ofLEDs in each LED set exhibits a different color; and the lighting devicefurther comprises control circuitry programmed to generate commands tocontrol drive currents delivered to each of the groups of LEDs in eachLED set so that the lighting device emits light of a specified one ofthe colors.
 17. The lighting device of claim 8, wherein each of the LEDmodules further comprises an optical lens that covers each section ofthe module.
 18. A lighting device, comprising: a housing; one or morelight emitting diode (LED) modules positioned in an opening of thehousing and configured to emit light away from the housing, each LEDmodule comprising: a substrate, a plurality of module-level conductors,and a plurality of LED sets, each of which comprises: a first sectionincluding a first group of LEDs, one or more additional sections, eachincluding an additional group of LEDs, a first conductive element thatelectrically connects the first section to a first one of themodule-level conductors, and one or more additional conductive elements,each of which electrically connects an additional section of one or moreof the LED sets to an additional one of the module-level conductors,wherein the first section of each LED set and at least one of the one ormore additional sections of each LED set are configured to emit light ofdifferent luminescent properties; and control circuitry programmed togenerate commands to control drive currents delivered to the first groupof LEDs in each LED set and each additional group of LEDs in each LEDset so that the lighting device emits light of a specified colortemperature.
 19. The lighting device of claim 18, further comprising: apower supply; and a controller configured to selectively direct currentfrom the power supply to the module-level conductors to selectivelydrive each of the sections of each LED set.
 20. The lighting device ofclaim 18, further comprising one or more non-conductive dividersconfigured to separate each of the sections of each LED set.
 21. Thelighting device of claim 18, wherein the first section of each LED setis coated with a first phosphor coating and each additional section ofeach LED set is coated with one or more different phosphor coatings toprovide the sections of each LED set with the different luminescentproperties.
 22. The lighting device of claim 18, wherein the differentluminescent properties comprise one or more of the following: differentcolors; different color rendering indices; different Duv values; ordifferent color temperatures.
 23. The lighting device of claim 18,wherein the different luminescent properties comprise different colortemperatures, and each group of LEDs exhibits a color temperature thatis a function of one or more of the following: a number of LEDs in thegroup of LEDs; one or more characteristics of LEDs in the group of LEDs;a concentration of phosphor particles in a phosphor coating on the groupof LEDs; or one or more light emitting characteristics of a phosphorcoating on the LED set.
 24. The lighting device of claim 18, wherein thefirst section is configured to emit light of color temperature that isin a range of 3000 K-4000 K, and at least one of the one or moreadditional sections are configured to emit light of color temperaturethat is in a range of 6000 K-7000 K.
 25. The lighting device of claim18, wherein: the first group of LEDs in each LED set exhibits a firstcolor; each additional group of LEDs in each LED set exhibits adifferent color; and the lighting device further comprises controlcircuitry programmed to generate commands to control drive currentsdelivered to each of the groups of LEDs in each LED set so that thelighting device emits light of a specified one of the colors.
 26. Thelighting device of claim 18, wherein each of the LED modules furthercomprises an optical lens that covers each section of the module.
 27. Alighting device, comprising: a housing; and one or more light emittingdiode (LED) modules positioned in an opening of the housing andconfigured to emit light away from the housing, each LED modulecomprising: a substrate, a plurality of module-level conductors, and aplurality of LED sets, each of which comprises: a first sectionincluding a first group of LEDs; one or more additional sections, eachincluding an additional group of LEDs; a first conductive element thatelectrically connects the first section to a first one of themodule-level conductors; and one or more additional conductive elements,each of which electrically connects an additional section of one or moreof the LED sets section to an additional one of the module-levelconductors; wherein: the first section and at least one of the one ormore additional sections are configured to emit light of differentluminescent properties, the first group of LEDs in each LED set exhibitsa first color, each additional group of LEDs in each LED set exhibits adifferent color, and the lighting device further comprises controlcircuitry programmed to generate commands to control drive currentsdelivered to each of the groups of LEDs in each LED set so that thelighting device emits light of a specified one of the colors.
 28. Thelighting device of claim 27, further comprising: a power supply; and acontroller configured to selectively direct current from the powersupply to the module-level conductors to selectively drive each of thesections of each LED set.
 29. The lighting device of claim 27, furthercomprising one or more non-conductive dividers configured to separateeach of the sections of each LED set.
 30. The lighting device of claim27, wherein the first section of each LED set is coated with a firstphosphor coating and each additional section of each LED set is coatedwith one or more different phosphor coatings to provide the sections ofeach LED set with the different luminescent properties.
 31. The lightingdevice of claim 27, wherein the different luminescent propertiescomprise one or more of the following: different colors; different colorrendering indices; different Duv values; or different colortemperatures.
 32. The lighting device of claim 27, wherein the differentluminescent properties comprise different color temperatures, and eachgroup of LEDs exhibits a color temperature that is a function of one ormore of the following: a number of LEDs in the group of LEDs; one ormore characteristics of LEDs in the group of LEDs; a concentration ofphosphor particles in a phosphor coating on the group of LEDs; or one ormore light emitting characteristics of a phosphor coating on the LEDset.
 33. The lighting device of claim 27, wherein each of the LEDmodules further comprises an optical lens that covers each section ofthe module.